speaker, the fiscal cliff is more than just the tax increases that president obama so dearly wants. the effect of the s.g.r. formula means that physicians who treat medicare patients will be forced to limit the number of seniors that they see, fewer patients being seen, doctors forced not to see patients because of foolish washington policy. this jeopardizes health care for millions of folks. the sustainable growth rate, the formula used by medicare to determine physician reimbursement, needs to be repealed. it doesn't work for patients and it doesn't work for doctors. and it's destructive to the very principles that we hold dear about health care. it violates accessibility. it violates quality, and it limits choices, it harms real people. now, there are positive solutions that we're working on so we may responseably reform this broken system, but while we work to put in place a system that actually makes sense, we must provide certainty for patients and their doctors for the new year. . slashing payments to doctors is a terrible idea and it must be stopped. the s.g.r. needs to be p